Publication year: 2011
Source: Child Abuse & Neglect, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 8 June 2011
Laura J., Proctor , Katherine, Van Dusen Randazzo , Alan J., Litrownik , Rae R., Newton , Inger P., Davis , …
Objective: Identify individual and environmental variables associated with caregiver stability and instability for children in diverse permanent placement types (i.e., reunification, adoption, and long-term foster care/guardianship with relatives or non-relatives), following 5 or more months in out-of-home care prior to age 4 due to substantiated maltreatment. Methods: Participants were 285 children from the Southwestern site of Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). Caregiver instability was defined as a change in primary caregiver between ages 6 and 8 years. Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was used to identify the strongest predictors of instability from multiple variables assessed at age 6 with…